


Hey, Change Your Ways

by markhyuck6_6



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bad Parenting, Fluff and Angst, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan-centric, M/M, Mark Lee (NCT) is a Mess, Overworking, Peer Pressure, Secret Relationship, Shy Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Sleep Deprivation, Soft Lee Donghyuck | Haechan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:28:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28036173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/markhyuck6_6/pseuds/markhyuck6_6
Summary: Mark... who is he? What happened to Minhyung?orDonghyuck's crush and best friend Minhyung moves to Canada and returns as Mark.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 2
Kudos: 42





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters and this story does not correspond/apply to real life. This is work is fiction and for entertainment purposes and entertainment purposes only. Please understand that I do not mean to antagonize anyone or anything in real life and do not mean any type of offense whatsoever. Also, I am not perfect at writing so please excuse me for any mistakes or inaccurate information.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: This work will have mentions of getting taken advantaged of and bad parenting. Please read at your own will.

Donghyuck woke up groggily as his alarm rang, he groaned and rolled over, only to sit up when he noticed the time. 7:45. His class starts in 15 minutes. “Shoot! I’m late!”

He rushed around the room, cursing at himself for sleeping in on his first day of college, especially considering that the first day starts an hour late. 5 minutes later, he found himself running toward his school with his uniform sticking all over the place. He ran into his classroom, only to find the professor looking unamused at him and told him to take a seat. He bowed and apologized, walking to one of the only empty seats. However, he met eyes with the person behind him and stopped in his tracks.

The boy was glaring at him, fuming that he interrupted class. It was Minhyung. The person who is his best friend. The person is his crush. He hasn’t seen him ever since high school but that didn’t stop him from recognizing him. He continued staring at him, mouth open agape but Mark just stared at him with nothing but cold eyes.

“What are you standing there for! Get a move on! You already interrupted class, don’t hold me up even more!” The professor’s annoyed voice snapped Donghyuck back in reality. He blushed and bowed again, muttering an apology and rushed to his seat. He took out his stuff and started class.

As soon as class ended, Donghyuck rushed off to follow Minhyung, wanting to know where he had been the entire time. “Minhyung hyung! Wait for me!” Minhyung sent him a glare and made his way out of the door.

Donghyuck stood up, about to follow but the professor called him back, “Nope, you there! See me after class!” He sighed and walked up to the professor. “Now, what do you think you were doing today, being late and disrupting class!”

“I-I’m sorry professor. I-It’s just that I just saw my childhood friend and crush that I haven’t seen in a while and I- wait, why am I telling you this? I’m so sorry, I’ll make sure that I won’t disrupt class again!” Donghyuck stuttered, looking down.

“It’s fine. I understand. I may have some love troubles right now too. I also happen to know who you are. I just never voiced it out. You’re Lee Donghyuck aren’t you? The boy who just got into this college but managed to skip one grade even in college because of your amazing top marks, am I right?” The teacher finished. Donghyuck looked at him dumbfounded, only managing a small nod. “Look, I know it might be hard for you to be in such an advanced class, so if you have any problems, just ask me okay? Also, you can call me Taeil hyung. I’m not much older than you so it will be awkward and I’m not a person with honorifics so hyung will do it.”

Donghyuck looked at him standing there in shock and snapped out of his trance when Taeil waved his hand in his face. “I’m sorry hyung, thank you so much!” He bowed and quickly left. He walked into the lecture hall and only saw a few students lingering outside the classrooms but Minhyung wasn’t there. He sighed and walked out. He strolled around the campus, familiarizing himself with where everything was.

He stopped by Starbucks and that’s when he saw Minhyung. “Minhyung hyung!” he shouted out of excitement. Glares were sent his way and he lowered his head in embarrassment but quickly turned his focus to Minhyung who had taken his order and rushed out. Donghyuck ran after him, calling after him frantically.

“What do you want?” Minhyung turned around suddenly, hissing at Donghyuck who had shrunken under his gaze. “And it’s Mark now, never call me Minhyung ever again.”

“But why hyung?” Donghyuck looked at the older in confusion.

“Don’t call me hyung either. I’m your senior, only address me by sunbaenim,” Minhyung- Mark hissed at him.

“But hyu-”

“I told you to call me sunbaenim didn’t I? Did I not make myself clear enough?” Mark turned around, gripping Donghyuck’s wrist. Donghyuck winced and he looked down, noticing his hold on the other and let him go.

“Y-Yes Mark hy- I mean sunbaenim. I-I’m sorry. But I wanted to ask this. W-W-Where were you? A-After freshman year, you just disappeared! I-I spent months looking for you!” Mark looked at him with an unreadable expression. Moments later, he just scoffed and left. Donghyuck sighed, letting out the breath he didn’t know he was holding. 

That’s when he found out that Minhyung was no longer his best friend anymore. Instead he was… Mark.

~~~

School ended and Donghyuck was left with nothing but piles of homework. He sighed, wondering if he should sit out the dance class he signed up for. He walked to the studio which luckily, wasn’t far from his apartment or school. He stepped into the room, excited to share his favorite hobby with others who enjoy it as much as him. That’s when a familiar black-haired boy caught his eye. He stared at Mark who was equally surprised as him, then rolling his eyes and turning away. The class started off relatively easily, cliche introductions. The students went around, introducing themselves and saying two fun facts about themselves.

“Hello, my name is Mark and I used to be part of a basketball team back in Canada. Also, I tend to stick with my friends so I don’t like interacting with strangers,” Mark said while giving a pointed stare at Donghyuck who gulped. So Mark went to Canada. Mark even joined a basketball team. Minhyung never liked sports. He said he didn’t like interacting with strangers… is he a stranger? 

Someone nudged his shoulder, shaking him out of his daze. He blinked, “H-hi, m-my name is Donghyuck. I-I’m an only child a-and I used to dance but never went to an actual class before.” The teacher nodded their head in approval.

“So as you know, our class is not exactly a class. It’s like a studio where you have access to help. Each person has their own project and we have about two weeks for each project. We know that you all are in college so this class is a bit more flexible. Since we’re more made of professionals, we will do our own stuff while you guys can come in anytime between 8 in the morning till 9 in the evening. The studio is built for you so make sure you feel comfortable here. By the end of each two weeks, we will have a small showcase in the studio. The week following the project is usually for chilling, having fun and if you want, getting an early start on your project. We have multiple practice rooms so if you don’t like how loud our main room is, you can go to another room to practice. Also, each time we have a main concept and if you all aren’t comfortable with following it, you can tell me. The number of people in a group can vary but since this class is quite big, I suggest that you can work in pairs or trios. Any questions?” The dance instructor asked after finishing his long speech.

“What do we do for the projects?”

“Well, you can choose. You can choreograph your own dance, do a cover, do a remix, or freestyle. It’s all up to you.” Donghyuck sighed in relief. He mainly liked to do covers since his memory is so good. Being able to cover a dance leaves him with a lot less work to do.

“Alright, since there aren’t any more questions, I’ll announce this time’s concept. Well, it’s not exactly a concept but since you all aren’t familiar with anyone, we decided to let you guys all work in pairs this time, get to know each other. In other words, you guys are doing duets. Also, before you ask, yes, you guys can all choose your partners. Have fun!” The instructor walked into what Donghyuck thought was another practice room. As soon as he left, the room buzzed in excitement. Everyone piled together and formed their own groups.

Donghyuck looked around and saw Mark. He slowly approached him and tapped him on the shoulder. Mark looked back and an annoyed look immediately flashed on his face when he recognized who stood before him. “What do you want?” He growled. Hyuck gulped, intimidated by the other. He had yet to get used to this angry side of Mark.

“I-I-I just wanted to ask if you w-wanted t-to be partners…” Donghyuck trailed off after meeting eyes with Mark who had a cold glare.

“For the last time, don’t talk to me inside or outside of school. Do you understand?” Mark sighed, ruffling his hair in frustration. Donghyuck hastily nodded and looked around the room, only to find everyone in their respective groups already brainstorming ideas. Mark noticed too and hissed out in frustration. He turned to the other and glared at him, “This is all your fault! Now, I’m being forced to work with you. I expect to be the best group in the room which means you can’t slack off. You messed this up, don’t mess up more. If you dare to go against me, I’ll make sure you won’t have a good future.” With the threat still hanging in the air, Mark picked up his bag and left the studio.

Donghyuck’s eyes stayed on the door that Mark just walked out of and tried to comprehend what just happened.


	2. Chapter 2

The week passed, and the pair still hadn’t started on the project yet. The showcase was in less than three weeks and they still had to pick a song and choreography.

Donghyuck stood inside the studio and looked around every now and then to see where Minhyung was. After half an hour of waiting, Donghyuck thought the older wouldn’t show up. Sighing, he wandered around the building, looking for an empty studio to practice in.

Passing by one of the rooms, Donghyuck saw a slightly familiar figure through the window. Peering closely, he smiled when he realized that it was Minhyung. Before he walked in though, he paused, smile turning upside down. Was Minhyung hyung here the whole time? Why didn’t he inform him? Ignoring those thoughts, he opened the door, shocking the other and bounced in. “Hyung!”

“It’s sunbaenim, how many times do I have to tell you that?” Minhyung growled at Donghyuck who shrunk at the angry voice.

“I was waiting outside for half an hour. Why didn’t you tell me you were here already?” Donghyuck pouted.

“I got here an hour ago. You’re late. And why would I tell you I got here? It’s not like I have your phone number? Besides, I wouldn’t bother anyway since it’s better without you in the first place,” Mark replied. Ouch. Donghyuck winced at the last sentence and looked down in disappointment. He looked back up when he heard Minhyung clear his throat. “Well, since you’re here already, I guess we should get started,” Minhyung said awkwardly. Donghyuck looked back and nodded dumbly.

“Okay, so I already chose the song and choreographed a choreo for it. I’ll just teach you the moves and you’ll just need to memorize them,” Mark said. Donghyuck stared back, slightly saddened that they couldn’t spend more time together.

“Well? What are you standing there for? Come on let’s start!” Donghyuck shuffled toward the center of the room, next to Mark and started warming up.

Mark started demonstrating the moves and Donghyuck copied, but all of his moves were sloppy and weak. The song that Mark chose was Chain, by Nct 127. Donghyuck can’t help notice the choice in music. Minhyung never likes fast paced songs like this. Like the song, the choreography was fast paced and had a lot of footwork involved.

“Oh my god, can’t you get it right?” Donghyuck flinched after having fallen down too many times trying to do a move. Donghyuck yelled at himself inside, why couldn’t he get it right? He’s letting down Mark.

Mark growled at the lack of response. Grabbing Donghyuck’s arm, he dragged him up. The action startled the younger, as he wasn’t able to find his balance and fell again, taking Mark with him this time. Groaning, Mark snapped, “Can’t you get anything right?”

“S-sorry sunbaenim,” Donghyuck mumbled, making sure not to forget to say sunbaenim instead of hyung. For a second, Mark paused, risking a glance toward Donghyuck, who still had his eyes pinned to the floor. He shook his head and sighed. He told the younger to get up, which he did, and continued teaching him the moves. Donghyuck cried on the inside. Usually, if he was having a bad day like this, he would just go home and do his homework that was due the next week. But of course, Mark had to force to continue dancing until he could get everything right.

They spent the next hour learning the choreography. Well, it was just Mark yelling at Donghyuck for doing the move wrong. After they finished learning, Donghyuck sighed in relief, thinking that he could go home. What he wasn’t expecting though, was Mark yelling at him, “Ya! Where do you think you’re going? Come back here. We still need to run through the entire thing a few times.” Donghyuck spinned around, looking at Mark with disbelief on his face. He opened his mouth to protest but closed it when he saw the glare that Mark gave him. Grudgingly, he moved back his place beside Mark.

A few times. That’s what Mark said. Except it wasn’t a few times. Every time Donghyuck messed up on one move, Mark made him do it over again for five times. Then, he would make them restart the dance. If Donghyuck messed up again, the process would happen again. Mark was annoyingly patient. By the time they did one run perfectly, Mark told him that they would do it again, but with more power. Not being able to do anything about it, Donghyuck nodded and got in position, only to mess up a beat again.

Mark sighed, already used to the countless mistakes made by the younger. “You know what, let’s do something else,” Donghyuck brightened at the thought of taking a break, “and do some leg exercises.”

Donghyuck immediately frowned, “B-but what does this have to do with dancing?” He hated physical exercise. The only exercise he ever gets is dancing, if he has time to do it.

“What do you mean? Of course this has to do with dancing. The move requires a lot of power, and that requires strength which you clearly lack in your legs,” Mark raised his eyebrows, as if he was challenging him to say another word against him. Donghyuck, not wanting to experience more of the older’s wrath, nodded pitifully.

Agreeing to Mark was the worst decision he made ever. The older made him run laps around the abnormally large studio 50 times and made him do squats, lunges, tuck jumps, and wall sits without any breaks in between. By the end, Donghyuck couldn’t breath and his legs were numb. Mark gave him a judging stare before getting up to start the music. Donghyuck groaned and hauled himself up for hopefully one more run of the choreography.

Luckily, Donghyuck didn’t mess up, and his moves were surprisingly cleaner, though his muscles screamed each time he moved. After striking the last pose, Mark told him to leave him in peace, which Donghyuck gladly did.

When he walked outside of the building, he groaned when he realized that he still had to walk back to his apartment. By now, he didn’t even know how many times he groaned in the span of an hour.

He got back home and collapsed onto his bed. He was just about to fall asleep when he remembered that he had homework to do. He looked at the clock and yelped when the blinking numbers read “9:00”.

He hadn’t planned to stay at the dance studio for that long. He had gotten to the studio at 4. He had practiced for 4 full hours. Tomorrow was Monday and his teachers gave him a mound of homework, credits to his full schedule. Not only that, but he had a big project due for his class. He hauled himself out of his inviting bed and got to work.

Donghyuck was a really independent and smart boy. His parents are demanding. They wanted him to skip a year of college and forced him to take countless extracurriculars. Donghyuck’s middle school and high school years were filled with extra classes like statistics, psychology, computer science, engineering, physics, quantum physics, mechanics, and just any type of STEM field courses. He was currently a second year double major, majoring in chemical engineering and cellular and molecular biology, and adding a minor of math.

When Donghyuck took all the classes, it was easy for him to fall behind. If he started to fall behind, his parents would take away the only thing that brought joy into his life, dance. Dance was his only escape from school and the high expectations. As finals for senior year were arriving, Donghyuck’s parents decided that his 4.9 GPA wasn’t enough and forced him to quit dance for a while. When finals were over and Donghyuck thought he could dance again, he was slammed back down with an injury to his left leg. So he rotted away in his room, studying for college for the entire summer break.

Not only is he pressured in his studies, his parents force him to be independent by not providing any type of financial assistance. He has to buy his own groceries, pay for his own taxes, and rent his own apartment. To keep up with the funds, Donghyuck found a high paying job in a bar. It was only high paying since most customers are not the best people. He was always targeted but it’s the only way he can earn enough money to get on with life.

After struggling with his homework for four more hours and finishing his project for three more hours, Donghyuck finally got to close his eyes. It was usual for him to sleep around 4 in the morning. He rarely got any rest because of his workload and constantly relied on coffee and energy drinks to keep him awake during classes.

Two and a half hours later, Donghyuck was awakened by his phone alarm. He closed it and groggily started preparing for school. He walked to school and winced when his legs were sore from yesterday’s exercises. Not wanting to complain, Donghyuck just pushed away the pain and continued his journey to school.


	3. Chapter 3

Mark looked at Donghyuck disappointed. They were back in the studio and Mark had made it a routine for the younger to do physical exercise everyday so he wouldn’t fall behind. He knew for a fact that he didn’t do any exercise outside of dancing so he decided that it was his responsibility to make sure that Donghyuck doesn’t flop their performance. Currently, the younger one was struggling to do push ups. Mark sighed and rolled his eyes. He walked up to him and told him that they can just start the dance routine.

Donghyuck stood up and Mark noted how the younger’s movements were stiff and kept on wincing when he put pressure on his left leg for too long. He shrugged it off and went to start the music. Surprisingly, Donghyuck didn’t fail as much as he thought he would. He seemed more concentrated, but his moves were stiff and weak. He sighed and made sure he would let the boy rest the next time. For some reason, Mark didn’t like seeing Donghyuck’s face scrunched up in pain. 

Meanwhile, Donghyuck was concentrating. He hated getting yelled at by the other, so he put all his focus on getting the moves right and luckily, Mark didn’t complain about his very sloppy moves. His muscles still burned with every move, but he pushed forward.

Mark had to be in some good mood that day because he let Donghyuck go without much snappy remarks. He immediately left and headed toward that godforsaken bar he works at.

He wrinkled his nose at the smell of alcohol. He was never fond of the smell, it made him dizzy after a long time, but he has to endure it so that he can pay for his overdue rent. Not only does the smell bother him, but the bar is always full of drunk people since, well, it’s a bar. And not only that, but drunk people equals horny people, which also equals Donghyuck getting harassed pretty much every time he works. He was a soft and cute college student, making him the best target out there.

As predicted, ten minutes later, a boy came and started to hit on him. He was obviously drunk and smelled so strongly that Donghyuck wanted to puke. “Hey beautiful, what’s your name? My name Jinwon, but you can call me yours,” the boy winked. Donghyuck, shifted, already used to these types of situations. Sooner or later, these people would be pulled away by someone else. What he didn’t expect was for Jinwon to be so persistent.

The older kept on pestering him, making Donghyuck more and more uncomfortable. He endured the torture for half an hour before Jinwon was finally pulled away by some random girl. After serving more people and getting flirted with for an agonizing two hours, Donghyuck finally was let off.

He sighed with relief and left the staff room. He squeezed past the dancing people, tring to get to the exit. Suddenly, a hand grabbed him and pushed him against a wall. Alcohol filled his nose, causing him to choke. Looking up, Donghyuck locked eyes with Jinwon, who looks much more wasted than before. “Where youuu going pretty booooy. We haven’t even had our fuuun yeeeeet,” he giggled, immediately swooping down and attaching his lips onto his neck.

Donghyuck shrieked and tried to push the other off, but he was too strong for him. His screams were drowned down by the loud music and sound of laughter. He whimpered, tears streaming down, as he tried to free himself from Jinwon’s clutches.

~~~

Mark laughed as his friends all got wasted, betting on who can take more shots. That’s when a scream caught his attention. Usually, Mark would brush it off, but this scream was filled with terror and sounded peculiarly like Donghyuck.

He scanned the small bar and saw a tuft of soft brown hair in the small corner of the bar. A tall boy was leaning against a boy and sucking on his neck. Mark squinted and made out Donghyuck’s terrified face.

He frowned as he realized that the younger was getting taken advantage of. He furrowed his eyebrows but then remembered that he hated him. Rolling his eyes, he brought his cup to his mouth and turned back his friends, who were now either passed out or very drunk.

~~~

Donghyuck stumbled out of the bar, finally able to escape when Jinwon was dragged off of him by that girl that took him earlier. His attention had immediately shifted and started to make out with the other girl. He ran back to his small flat and collapsed onto his bed, sobbing.

After calming down, he sniffled and went into his bathroom. He flinched at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were puffy, face was red, hair was messed up, and worst of all, hickeys were all littered over his neck.

His hand ran over the ugly marks which signaled his loss of innocence. Before this, he never kissed someone, luckily still hasn’t even after this encounter. But after this incident, he got his first hickeys, and he hated it. It made him feel dirty and disgusting.

His tender touch turned into a furious rubbing. He was rubbing his hand over his neck, trying to scrub out the marks that covered his skin. When he realized that it was useless, he choked out a cry and went back to his bed, crying himself to sleep.

At 5 in the morning, Donghyuck jolted awake, having experienced a nightmare from the night before. Donghyuck sped back to his bathroom bathroom, huffing when he saw the ugly marks still over his skin. He pouted when he remembered he didn’t have makeup to cover the hickeys, never finding the point since he has to save money for more important things. Resorting to a large black hoodie in the back of his closet, he pulled the giant hood up, covering his neck and half of his face.

As usual, he was quiet throughout the whole lecture and quickly left after the day was done. “Donghyuck, where do you think you’re going?” Shoot, he forgot about the last meet up with Mark. He turned and looked up at Mark, trembling, scared that he could see the hickeys.

Mark examined Donghyuck’s half covered face and furrowed his eyebrows when he saw faint marks on his neck. For some reason, he felt angry wherever looking at them. He felt betrayed that Donghyuck was marked by someone else- wait what? Mark shook his head and pulled the younger to his car and drove to the studio. Donghyuck drew his arm back and the older looked back at him. Even though Mark couldn’t see half of his face, he could tell that the younger was spooked by his touch. He silently let go and glared at him, trying to maintain his strict image. “Let’s go.”

Donghyuck meekly followed and surprisingly, Mark had him sit in his car for the ride to the studio. When they got there, Mark walked out of the car and opened the door for him. Donghyuck looked at him, a small hope flickering in his heart. “Well? Are you coming out of the car or not?” Mark’s annoyed voice pulled him out of his thoughts and he immediately scrambled out of the car to follow him.

Walking into the studio, they practiced a few runs of the choreography before working on the details. “Let’s work on our facial expressions,” Mark said. Donghyuck just nodded as usual, not having any courage to speak against him.

The song was a fierce song, so they were working on fierce expressions. Donghyuck looks into the mirror, trying to make a mean face, but ends up looking like an adorable teddy bear. He heard a chuckle and looked to the side, seeing Mark looking at him with a slightly bemused expression. The older catches his eye and immediately looks away. Instead, he turns his focus toward the mirror, scowling then forming a sly smirk. Donghyuck gasped.

Mark’s face blurred and he closed his eyes, but when he reopened them, he was met with Jinwon’s face. He backed away, panicking. He dashed out of the door and ran to the bathroom. He locked himself inside a stall and crouched beside the toilet, rocking back and forth while hugging his knees. “No, ” he whimpered, trying to get the image of Jinwon’s face out of his head.

“Donghyuck?” Shoot. It was Mark. Of course he followed him here! He must be mad at him! Donghyuck muffled his sobs, burying his head into his knees.

“You do realize that I followed you into this bathroom and can see you from the bottom cracks right?” A voice came from above. Donghyuck sniffled and looked up, only to lock eyes with… Jinwon? He screamed, unlocking the door and running away. He ran blindly until arms wrapped around him and pushed him into an alley. He writhed in the grip, panic taking over him as he started to hyperventilate.

“Donghyuck? It’s okay, breathe. Come on, breathe with me.” Mark spoke hurriedly. Donghyuck leaned toward Mark’s voice, feeling his familiar arms around him. He breathed out, tears still rolling down his cheeks calming down. He melted into the warm hug, forgetting for a moment who’s arms he was actually in.


End file.
